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Post by Jeremy on Nov 14, 2018 9:50:00 GMT -8
So, going into season 3... what exactly happened between Alicia and Keith? They had a fight over Wallace's biological father, and then Alicia hasn't appeared since and nothing more has been said about how their relationship ended. Poor Alicia. Her relationship with Keith ended rather abruptly when she was called away to Mandyville. (Which is a different place than the Abruptly Disappearing Schoolteachers dimension.) Don't worry, every VM fan goes through this phase. We grow to love Logan, and then slowly grow tired of him. I... doubt Season Three will improve your feelings about their relationship.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 14, 2018 10:32:24 GMT -8
I've liked season 3 at least as much as season 2 thus far, I just think Logan's character is spinning its wheels at this point.
I think the problem this show has is that the whole setup is built around the season one plot so strongly that it's struggled to maintain momentum afterwards.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 14, 2018 15:22:59 GMT -8
In a way, Veronica Mars is sort of a precursor for all the shows we see nowadays that are originally meant to be miniseries, yet get continually renewed and turn into ongoing shows. Few of them ever again hit the heights of their first season.
How far are you into S3?
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 14, 2018 16:02:58 GMT -8
Episode 8, "Lord of the Pi's". I think I'm just about at the conclusion of the first mystery arc, which I'm actually liking a lot. Thematically, it does a good job exploring how difficult it can be to uncover and fight for the truth in a situation where everyone else has their own agenda and doesn't care about it.
Also, this show has made me totally paranoid while watching it. Every time someone touches something that belongs to someone else, I assume they've placed a bug on it, and every time a drink is left unattended I assume it's been drugged. The second Veronica got up from the table in "Of Vice and Men" and didn't take her drink, I correctly guessed what was going to happen next.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 14, 2018 18:44:35 GMT -8
Been a long time since I watched Season Three, but I imagine the opening arc has greater resonance nowadays, what with the #MeToo movement and its influence on college campuses.
I also think "Spit & Eggs" is a pretty great episode, probably the highlight of the season.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 16, 2018 7:45:14 GMT -8
I think instead of "jumped the shark," I'm going to start saying "cubed the car."
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 16, 2018 10:21:30 GMT -8
I had to look up that reference, which tells you how little I remember about the standalone stories in S3.
(Also, my preferred shark-jumping term is "dropped the helicopter," after the dear, departed Dr. Rocket Romano.)
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 16, 2018 12:21:11 GMT -8
It's just such a bizarre move for her to make, even if she backs out at the last second. She doesn't like that Logan slept with Madison St. Claire while they were broken up, so she... decides to have her car stolen and destroyed? Huh?
Also, how is she still this bent up about Madison's involvement in her rape, but doesn't care that Logan is still friends with Dick? Madison didn't know that the drink she passed to Veronica was drugged, but Dick did purposely try to drug Madison, and then later encouraged his brother to rape Veronica when she was unconscious. I thought part of the reason she broke up with Logan way back between seasons 1 and 2 is that he hadn't really changed, and was still doing shady things and keeping bad company.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 18, 2018 20:22:04 GMT -8
Geez, what's with all the Dutch angles all of a sudden?
Just five episodes left; I gotta admit, the season's running out of steam. The first mystery arc was pretty solid on both a serial and standalone level, then it just turns pretty middling, and I'm not sure how much sense the Dean's murder mystery even makes. The most frustrating thing is that there's a whole cast of "regular" characters who are being under-utilized; why can't there be a mystery that involves Mac, Parker, Piz, and Wallace? They're all either new or haven't been involved much in previous mystery arcs, perfect for bringing a fresh spin to the show.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 18, 2018 20:57:03 GMT -8
Piz and Parker just weren't good characters, and I don't know if incorporating them directly into the mysteries would have improved them. They were introduced as foils to shake up Veronica's life, which started them off on the wrong foot to begin with. Just weak attempts at recycling Duncan and Meg, without the freshness or charm.
Interestingly, Wallace and Mac did almost get their own subplot in one S3 episode. The storyline was completely written, filmed, and edited... but then at the last minute, Rob Thomas decided to cut it entirely. That's a pretty radical move for a show to make, given how much time and money goes into each scene - but it kinda says something about how uncertain the writers were about those two characters by the third season.
Oh, and umm... good luck with those last five episodes. The final two are okay, but the first three... yikes.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 19, 2018 4:17:06 GMT -8
I rather like Piz, I think he and Wallace and Mac had pretty good chemistry going in that episode where they're testing the drinks at the frat party. Then they all disappear, and we get a lot of Logan moping around instead.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 19, 2018 5:44:30 GMT -8
Also, now that I've got a minute, what exactly was the deal with the Dean's murder? Let me get this straight; Tim decided to get revenge on Landry for losing him a job offer, so instead of killing Landry, he kills the Dean and frames Landry. Then Landry pops in and thinks that Mindy did it, so he frames Mindy's ex-husband, and uses Veronica's exact murder plan for some weird reason. (Or maybe Tim did this, I've lost track.) Mindy doesn't believe the Dean committed suicide but thinks that Landry might have killed him, so she hires Keith to find out what happened, but doesn't tell him any information that might point to Landry, which negates the purpose of hiring Keith in the first place. Then Tim starts helping Veronica find the Dean's killer, even though he's the one who killed him.
Am I missing something, or does this make no sense at all?
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 19, 2018 9:08:09 GMT -8
As another sign of how faded the season is in my memory, I had completely forgotten that the professor's name was Landry. Especially confusing as I automatically associate that name with killers now - thanks, Friday Night Lights. And yes, the Dean's murder mystery is needlessly convoluted (and that's not even getting into how long Keith goes labeling it a suicide, wasting both the show's and viewers' time in the process). Tim Foyle's part makes no sense, although given that he was a high school janitor who was shot to death last season, I'm willing to cut him a little slack. That's... a pretty unusual sentiment among VM fans. Although it seems you've just come off a lengthy stretch of episodes from which he's entirely absent. Rest assured, the last five episodes have... um, more Piz than anyone needs.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 19, 2018 9:47:54 GMT -8
We'll see if I'm Pizzed out by the end then, I guess.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 20, 2018 7:05:28 GMT -8
I thought the next three episodes were all right, but they were weirdly preachy, like they went on a "very special episode" kick. Not to mention that Invisible Children is the organization that went on to do the much ridiculed "Kony 2012" stunt.
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